Equipment for folding the toilet seat and / or its lid

ABSTRACT

A device for folding a toilet seat and/or lid provided with a system for sliding the seat and/or lid down includes a housing provided with a hinged lever, a drive connected to a motion sensor and a source of energy, and elements for connecting the housing to an inside of the seat and/or to a wall behind the lid.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY

The technical solution relates to a device for folding the toilet seatand/or its lid, in particular a seat and/or a lid provided with a systemfor their sliding down. It is a non-contact device.

Folding the seat and possibly its lid is still solved by complicatedmechanisms that are part of the supplied new toilets. Such solutions aredescribed in several patents that describe the subject matter.

In the case of the mechanism disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,519,105, thecushion is displaced by a manual mechanism that is connected to a watercontainer and, after flushing, causes the panel to be lowered to ahorizontal position. The water container must be behind the raised seat,otherwise the mechanism can not be used. The mechanism is supplied witha water container.

Another device is the mechanism disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,551,866,which allows to fold the seat by means of a lever attached to the lowerpart of the seat and at the same time by the piston mechanism attachedto the toilet.

The device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,839,928 is a lever attached to aflushing vessel and, when flushing, pushes the seat into a horizontalposition. This solution can only be used in the case of a toilet with acontainer just behind the seat lid.

The apparatus disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,819,327 is a mechanicaldevice assigned to the lower part of the seat and is provided withdrawers and two levers and an additional drawer for the toilet bowl. Themechanism works with a time interval when the seat is lifted.

The device described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,636,956 is a device embedded inthe back of the seat and, by means of a button located on the wall orthe front of the bowl, activates a motor that lifts and folds the seat.

The device described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,020,221 works with the help ofpistons, when the lever is depressed by activating the internalmechanism and raising and lowering the seat. A mechanism similar to thatdescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,082,604 operates on a very similarprinciple of depressing the lever. In this case, the pistons are notused, but the mechanism is partially attached to the wall and works onthe principle of the lever.

Recently, mechanisms that are directly part of the entire seat and lidand have built-in engine and sensors. These include the mechanismdescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,640,268.

The disadvantage of all the above-mentioned devices is the need for morecomplex installation, or they are already part of the whole seat or theycan only work on toilets that have a water tank just behind the bowl andnot in the wall or above. Most of these mechanisms have to be manuallyoperated or by use of foot. But in any case, some action is needed.Regardless, complex mechanisms are built into these toilets, the are notonly costly but are not functional in existing toilets.

Currently there are toilet seats that have a system for their softfolding—after a first mechanical impulse, the seat or lid is tilted at areduced speed so that it does not damage the toilets. Their disadvantageis the necessity to realize at least the basic movement for theirfolding.

The above-mentioned drawbacks are to a large extent eliminated by thefolding device for the toilet seat and/or its lid, especially the seatand/or the lid provided with a system for their gradual folding,according to this technical solution. Its essence is that it is formedby a housing provided with a hinged lever whose drive is connected to amotion sensor and a source of energy, the housing being provided withelements for its attachment to the inner side of the seat cover and/orto the wall behind the lid. The device is equipped with a positionsensor to prevent unintentional starting in the case of the lid. Thesource of power is 4 AA batteries that will last about two years ofnormal operation on the basis of testing. Alternatively, 4 AAA batteriescan be used, but the normal operation time is reduced. In any case,there must be so many batteries that have a total power of 6V, becauseat this power, the motor is able to develop enough force to move theseat to the position where it falls spontaneously. It is not possible touse a 9V flat battery, as it would burn out the lever when it was used.

In a preferred embodiment, the housing is provided with a positionsensor. The energy source is preferably a battery.

It is a device that is placed on the inside of the seat cover or behindit, depending on whether it is only required to move the seat or thelid. The device responds to the raised seat that covers the sensor. Itis no longer necessary to assist the user to activate the device in anyway.

After a certain period of time, the processor sends a signal to themotor, which moves the seat in the horizontal position using the lever.The lever moves on an axis 0 to 90 degrees and then returns to thedevice housing. The lever must be of sufficient length to be able tomove the seat to a position where it will spontaneously fall into thehorizontal position. For this reason, we have abandoned the intent witha piston solution that does not have the chance to develop sufficientseat movement. To clarify, it does not put the seat to an angle fromwhich it would fall spontaneously and at the same time threaten to jamthe piston and damage the whole device if the angle at which the seatcomes to the piston is not perfectly perpendicular. This is in fact notachievable. The ideal length of the lever should be between 100 mm and120 mm in order to allow the seat to reach the 80 degree angle after thelever has been extended, especially in slow-moving seats. Forinstallation on the inside of the lid and its horizontal position, thedevice is equipped with a position detector sensor—vertical vs.horizontal. This is to prevent permanent activation due to the hiddensensor, thus draining the batteries and possible mechanical damage tothe device. The device is powered by pencil batteries.

This new device can be used on all toilet models, and no complicatedinstallation or intervention into the existing seat is required. Anadvantage over existing sensor systems is also the elimination of thetriggering due to mere movement around the toilet (children, animals).The new system works with a sensor that sends a signal at regularintervals, and if the response does not come twice in succession, thedevice will not start. The device itself is placed with the tape on thefixed part of the cover or in the case of a toilet without a cover onthe wall or any fixed part on which the seat is supported. The deviceitself should have a length of 145 mm, a width of 85 mm and a height of20 mm

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The apparatus for folding the toilet seat and/or the lid thereof, inparticular the seat and/or the lid according to an aspect of the presentinvention is shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the apparatus in a closed position; and

FIG. 2 is a perspective, partially broken view of the apparatus showinga hinged lever of the apparatus in an open position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

An exemplary tilting device provided with a tilting system comprises ahousing 3 provided with a hinged lever 1 whose drive 4 is connected to amotion sensor 2 and an energy source 5, the housing 3 being providedwith elements for connecting it to the inside of the seat cover and/orthe wall behind lid. The housing 3 has a position sensor. The powersupply is 4 AA batteries. The device will be set to 2 minutes after thesensor 2 cover and the first pulse transmission. The whole body will bemade of a good washable plastic and will consist of two parts, a rigidsuspension base 6 and a removable device. The device is placed on thetop of the lid so that it is covered by the seat.

The equipment for folding the toilet seat and/or its lid according tothis technical solution will be used mainly for existing toilets; butalso functional with new toilets, which are not equipped with anautomatic pre-installed system.

1. A device for folding a toilet seat and/or lid provided with a systemfor sliding the seat and/or lid down, comprising a housing provided witha hinged lever, a drive connected to a motion sensor and a source ofenergy, and elements for connecting the housing to an inside of the seatand/or to a wall behind the lid.
 2. The device according to claim 1,wherein the housing is provided with a position sensor.
 3. The deviceaccording to claim 2, wherein the energy source is at least one battery.4. The device according to claim 1, wherein the energy source is atleast one battery.